Putin balks at EU parliament move to counter Russian propaganda

Thursday, November 24, 2016 - 01:10

Russian President Vladimir Putin says Europe is trying to silence dissenting opinions after the European Parliament called on the EU to do more to counter Russian ''disinformation.'' Deborah Lutterbeck reports.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin said that after lecturing Russia on democracy -- Europe is trying to silence dissenting opinions. His comments come after the European Parliament called on the EU to do more to counter Russian "disinformation and propaganda warfare".
(SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN PRESIDENT, VLADIMIR PUTIN, SAYING:
"It tells us that we are observing a certain, quite obvious, degradation - in a political sense of the word - of how democracy is understood in Western society, in this particular case in the European Parliament. But I very much hope that common sense prevails and we won't see any real restrictions."
By a vote of 304 to 179 the European Parliament passed a resolution Wednesday, warning against "propaganda" pressure on the European Union carried out by Russia.
EU leaders, most especially in the Baltic states, have been alarmed at how Moscow has used its media to gain support for its views and policies.

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